Purdue Men’s Basketball To Meet Butler In First Year Of Crossroads Classic

The Purdue men’s basketball team will play Butler in the inaugural year of the newly formed Crossroads Classic, as pairings and order were announced on Monday at Conseco Fieldhouse.

Indiana and Notre Dame will meet first in 2011, with the Boilermakers and Bulldogs squaring off in the nightcap. The order and opponents will be reversed for the event’s second rendition in 2012.

“This is a great opportunity for us to play a challenging in-state opponent in our state capital,” Purdue head coach Matt Painter said. “Butler has earned a high level of respect, and our players and staff will welcome the challenge of facing them at a great basketball venue in 2011.”

Purdue is 37-16 against Butler in a series that dates to 1901, including a 12-matchup winning streak that spanned more than three decades and came to an end in 2001. The teams will meet for the first time since 2006, when the Bulldogs claimed a 68-65 victory over Purdue in Indianapolis.

The Crossroads Classic is the result of the coming together of the four most-storied college basketball programs in the state of Indiana. The Memorandum of Understanding signed Monday by each school’s director of athletics provides for the event to be held in both 2011 and 2012 in the state capital.

“Growing up in Indianapolis, this event definitely strikes an emotional chord for me,” Purdue director of intercollegiate athletics Morgan Burke said. “I vividly remember attending the Hoosier Classic at Hinkle Fieldhouse as a young boy. It was my introduction to the significance of basketball in the state of Indiana. Hopefully by bringing together our four schools at the new Crossroads Classic on the magnificent stage of Conseco Fieldhouse, we will showcase this great sport to a new generation of fans.”

With three starters and more than 70 percent of its points and rebounds returning from a squad that won a school record-tying 29 games and a share of its league-leading 22nd Big Ten title, the 2010-11 Purdue team will open exhibition play on Nov. 2 against the University of Indianapolis and tip off the regular season against Howard on Nov. 14.

Notre Dame Will Face Off Against Indiana

Notre Dame and Indiana will renew its storied men’s basketball rivalry during the 2011-12 campaign when the two teams will meet at Conseco Fieldhouse on Dec. 17, 2011 in the Crossroads Classic. The contest will be a part of doubleheader that also will feature Butler and Purdue meeting on the hardwood that same day.

The announcement of the event was made today (Aug. 16) at Conseco Fieldhouse. Irish director of athletics Jack Swarbrick was present for the formal announcement of the doubleheader as were Barry Collier of Butler, Fred Glass of Indiana and Morgan Burke of Purdue. The four athletic directors each signed the Memorandum of Understanding that provides for the Crossroads Classic to be held in the state capital in both 2011 and 2012.

The Irish will play Purdue in the second year of the event on Dec. 15, 2012.

“Notre Dame is very excited to be able to join with Butler, Indiana University and Purdue in making the Crossroads Classic possible,” said Swarbrick. “This is a great basketball event in America’s best basketball venue, but it is more than that. It is also a celebration of higher education in Indiana. The partnership reflected in this basketball event mirrors the many ways in which Indiana’s great colleges and universities work together to benefit Hoosiers.”

“We at Conseco Fieldhouse and Pacers Sports & Entertainment are pleased to be the host for this extraordinary event, which brings four of the state’s outstanding universities together for two great games each of the next two years,” Jim Morris, president of Pacers Sports & Entertainment, said. “This expands our basketball heritage and will be tremendously exciting for alumni and all basketball fans.”

The Irish and Hoosiers last faced each other on Nov. 24, 2008 when Notre Dame defeated Indiana, 88-50, in the first round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. The last regular-season meeting between the two schools in the state of Indiana occurred on Dec. 12, 2004 at Assembly Hall in Bloomington as the Irish defeated the Hoosiers, 55-45. Indiana leads the all-time series, 47-21.

There have been 40 matchups between the Irish and the Boilermakers and the series is split with each team winning 20 games. The last meeting occurred on March 17, 2004 in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament held at Notre Dame. The Irish earned a 71-59 victory in a contest that marked the first meeting between the two schools since the 1965-66 campaign.